458 Comments for Belchertown State School

gorgeous

Again, lovely work, Mr. Motts. The seats are similar to many I remember from charming old theatres.

Don't like going to the movies anymore; too much disrespect and also TOO expensive!

No siempre se puede salir asi de fácil...
demaciado genial la foto
=)

Notice to the left of the smilely face, it says "SUCKA". And appears to be various other tags on the walls off to the right side of the pic.

Is that graffiti on the wall in there?

this looks like a prison ! or kinda
thunderdome-ish...and it's true, in general things built after the 1970's
started to really suck bad in terms of durability, craftsmanship, material
quality, etc. the reasons are manifold..
old growth wood statred to become
more scarce, the mafia gained more control than ever over labor and
contracts, developers being shaken
down, official corruption began to
expand drastically, building inspectors
on the take, all these things add up to
inflate building costs, so guys cut corners, in materials, workmanship,
design, safety, ETC. it was [IS] the price
of doing biz at all in the trades....besides,
that slacker attitude was already infecting the culture, alot of work ethics
went out the window in the 80's...

I had one of these that came out of a storage room in a fire department. I found that they are not particularly valuable. I got $25.00 for mine and it was in good, working condition.

I wish things were still Shhh! The last 3 times I've been to a movie theater there has been some dumb-a who thinks it's a good time to talk on his cell phone. ugh.

The smilie way in the background... awesome.

Solemn beauty at its best. This has to be one of my favorites. <3

Someone in the forum asked what had happened to the merry-go-round. It is now in Holyoke, at, I believe, the Heritage Park and it is still used. I used to take people to ride it at Belchertown all the time. You could ride it all day if you chose to and sometimes we'd be on it for a few hours at a time. They didn't play merry-go-round music, but did play 70's rock. It was very relaxing. And it was great to be getting paid for riding a merry-go-round!

I worked at Belchertown State School from 1982 unti 1990. One of the jobs I held was the mistreatment investigator. Therefore I know first hand of the wrong doings there. However overall the residents were well cared for by loving staff who became very attached. I frequently wonder about several residents I became close to. The grounds were beautiful although the buildings were old then. It's sad to see them in such neglect.

Reminds me of the days of the ushers with the flashlights. Everything then was shssssss.

Brings back memories of the old theaters. Just let them sit and rot; what a shame.